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As a kid, one of the best parts of my birthday was receiving birthday cards from my uncles and grandparents. Especially those cards designed specifically to hold cash. In all honesty, it was never about the card; I was really only excited about what was in the card.

It wasn’t a lot of money, but it was money. Just because I was born!

The rule back then was quite simple. You picked up the phone and called to thank the elders who sent the cash your way. Failure to acknowledge their generosity was a sure-fired way to get on the Ungrateful List. Kids on the Ungrateful List usually never saw those cards designed specifically to hold cash ever again.

I never think about my toaster. Even when I’m plugging it in. Even when I’m putting my English muffins into the over-sized slots. I never think about my toaster.

My toaster is just sitting there on the counter. It’s always been on my counter. Probably always will be, too. It’s just one of those props on the set of my mornings, just like the coffee maker and the can opener.

I’ll admit I’m not that good at praying. Unless you consider asking for things proper prayer etiquette.

For most of my life, praying was the equivalent of sitting on Santa’s lap and providing Him with a list of things I wanted. Some of my more advanced praying techniques included a negotiation of sorts with me telling God what I would do in exchange for me receiving what I was asking for.

Growing up, my religious education included many discussions about Satan, but never once did “marketing genius” come up in the conversation. But Satan has a business to run, and marketing is a critical part of his business plan.

From a marketing perspective, Satan has a very difficult product to sell. How do you sell people on the idea of never living up to their own greatness, of never becoming all they were created to be?

“Sometimes all you need is some quiet moments to once again see the magnificence of what surrounds you.”

What would you do if you had your own National Park?

My travels this week brought me to the the coastal region of Maine, not too far from the Bar Harbor area. The Bar Harbor area is home to the stunningly beautiful Acadia National Park. Acadia was a place I had often talked about going to but actually visiting the park was one of those things that I had never done. A last minute change in my schedule gave the window of time I needed and off to Acadia I went.

Acadia is located on Mount Desert Island, sitting right on the jagged Maine coast, overlooking the Atlantic Ocean. It is a majestic place filled with glacier rock formations and old growth timber very much left untouched. The views are spectacular. Almost spiritual.

It’s Judgment Day. You have a final interview with God, at which time you need to turn back in any of your unused potential. Any excess capacity that was never utilized. Any unused gifts that were bestowed upon you but simply never used. And I can see God cringe every time he asks to see what’s been left unused. He knows the answer already. Not just because He’s God, but because He knows that the vast majority simply never live up to the greatness they were designed to achieve. God simply shakes his head as he throws the unused potential into the big rusty steel dumpster behind him.